Welcome to Princeton Stadium, a combination of high-tech, intimacy and
modesty that together has created a venue perfectly suited to the
University.

Built in 1997, Princeton Stadium is a facility simplistic in goals and
complex in structure.Princeton Stadium was built with more than just
football Saturdays in mind. Instead it stands as an extension of the
campus, and its goal is to be integrated into the daily life of the
University. The stadium concourses are always open, and the facility
has served as a meeting and banquet place for many constituents.

Through
a generous gift from alumnus William C. Powers ’79, FieldTurf was added
to the stadium to provide an ideal playing surface for both games and
practices. The new “Powers Field” at Princeton Stadium was dedicated in
the fall of 2007. A state-of-the-art video scoreboard, which offers
in-game replays, interactive fan entertainment and a professional-style
pregame introduction, was also introduced last year. Since the
introduction of FieldTurf, Princeton is 7-3 on Powers Field.

Princeton Stadium stands on the site that was once Palmer Stadium,
though the new stadium is approximately 70 feet closer to Nassau Street
than its predecessor. Palmer Stadium was the home to Princeton football
from the time it was built in 1914 until it closed after the 1996
season.

Princeton Stadium has a seating capacity of 27,800, with room for more
than 30,000 in the building. To get a good feeling for the facility,
consider these two facts: Princeton Stadium sits 15 feet higher from
the turf to the top point of the stadium than Palmer did; yet,
Princeton Stadium’s closest seats are merely 17 feet away from the
field.

The wall-building, which surrounds the seating area on three sides, is
one of the most unique features of the stadium. It was built from 3,500
precast pieces of concrete, the heaviest of which weighs 80,000 pounds,
or the size of 56 offensive lines.

There are two main purposes of the wall-building. First, it helps the
stadium maintain Palmer’s historic horseshoe design while still
allowing seating on four sides. Second, the wall-building houses the
press box, a lounge, concession stands, rest rooms and an auxiliary
scoreboard.The lighting provides 80 foot-candles uniformly over the
playing area, which allows for night games not only in football but
also in lacrosse or soccer.

The public address system is a Turbosound Flashlight loudspeaker
system, the same system that has been installed in NFL stadiums in both
Oakland and Green Bay. There are fall mums planted around the old
Palmer Memorial Stadium stone, which has been preserved and placed in
the center of the northern concourse.

Palmer Stadium

Princeton
University's Palmer Stadium, the second-oldest football stadium in the
United States, was torn down last summer. The stadium was built in a
four-month period of 1914 and was the home for Princeton football and
track and field for 82 years.

The new facility, Princeton
Stadium, is being built on the same site as Palmer, and will have
separate venues for track and football. It is scheduled for completion
in time for the 1998 football season.

Palmer Stadium opened (on
Oct. 24, 1914) and closed (on Nov. 23, 1996) with football games
between Princeton and Dartmouth. In all Princeton played 461 football
games in the stadium and had a record of 283-161-17.

Palmer
also played host to memorable moments in many other sports, most
notably track and field. The end of the stadium ensures that Jesse
Owens will forever have the Palmer record for the long jump, which he
set in 1936. Other Olympians to have competed at Palmer include Al
Oerter, Edwin Moses and Lynn Jennings.

The new stadium will
have a smaller seating capacity of 30,000, as compared with Palmer's
45,750. Unlike Palmer there will be seating in the new stadium's east
end zone, though there will be a wall-building attached to the
structure on three sides to simulate Palmer's traditional horseshoe
design.

A common structure in the east end zone will join the
two facilities and have seating for football and track and field, thus
creating the new athletic complex.